People Are So Inspired by Therese Patricia Okoumou, Who Scaled Statue of Liberty for Immigrant Children

Therese Patricia Okoumou is a hero. The 44-year-old activist staged a powerful protest at the Statue of Liberty on the Fourth of July. After a group of protesters from Rise and Resist New York unfurled a banner reading “ABOLISH ICE,” she scaled the famous monument and remained at the base for about three hours. Okoumou, an immigrant from the Democratic Republic of the Congo, refused to budge until “all the children are released.”

For months, the Trump Administration separated children from their parents at the border. After much outrage, President Donald Trump signed an executive order to end this policy (even though it’s his administration that enacted it in the first place), but this action hasn’t helped reunite all of the about 2,000 families torn apart. Okoumou’s protest was in direct response to the administration’s harmful behavior.

Okoumou could be seen sitting on Lady Liberty’s robes. At one point, she even laid down to rest. About 16 officers from the New York City Police Department’s Emergency Service Unit worked to get her down.

“At first, she wasn’t friendly with us, but we took the time to get a rapport with her so that took a while,” Officer Brian Glacken said in a news conference, according to CNN. “She just kind of mentioned the kids in Texas . I guess the whole debate that’s going on about that. In the beginning, she threatened to push us off, push the ladder off, but we stayed with her. At first, she was being a little combative, then she was willing to cooperate with us. She actually apologized to us for having to go up and get her.”

The officers put a harness on her to get her down. By Wednesday evening, she was in federal custody, where she’ll be transferred to a US Marshals office in Manhattan.

We are arranging pro bono legal counsel for Patricia. Working to confirm that 100% today and will announce it.

Rise and Resist is now working to secure her legal representation. In a statement (which some believed seemed like the org was distancing itself from Therese), it said, “In solidarity with Saturday’s nationwide End Family Separation protests, on July 4th, Rise and Resist planned and executed a non-violent banner drop and human banner action at the Statue of Liberty. Our message was that ICE must be abolished, families must be reunited now, deportations must be halted, and the policy of detention as deterrent must end.”

Rise and Resist is currently at 500 Pearl St. waiting for Patricia’s arraignment. We have been told she will not be arraigned until after 2pm today. We have arranged expert legal options for her, and we are demanding she be released without bail.

As people wait to hear what happens next in this case (and whether they need to chip in for her bail), many are using Twitter to talk about how deeply inspiring they find Patrice. Check out a few tweets below.

1

This brave woman. From the literal foot of Liberty. Legs crossed. Speaking, calmly, for all of us. With a sense of morality & humanity. Release those children. Reunite the families. Stay awake America. Do not lose your outrage. Do not become numb to injustice. This is patriotism. pic.twitter.com/hKTM1PCTyv

Protesting at the Statue of Liberty demanding an end to state violence & the inhumane detention of children seems a fitting way to spend a holiday that's purportedly about celebrating the end of tyranny. Happy July 4th to #TheresePatriciaOkoumou✊❤️

So, fuck yes, climbing the base of the ultimate metaphor for immigration to point out how fucked it is to cruelly take kids from their parents is an act of heroism & patriotism. It's calling attention to right a wrong & #goodtrouble#TheresePatriciaOkoumou#Resist